DARTMOUTH — Two exotic dancers have sued the owner of the Kings Inn in hopes of winning back pay they say is owed them and about 100 other workers.

NATALIE SHERMAN

DARTMOUTH — Two exotic dancers have sued the owner of the Kings Inn in hopes of winning back pay they say is owed them and about 100 other workers.

The Route 6 "gentlemen's club" called the women contractors, but the suit maintains they were actually employees.

As contractors, the women — who earned between $200 and $900 a night at the Kings Inn, according to court documents — were denied minimum wage and other labor protections, said attorney Hillary Schwab of the Cambridge firm Lichten & Liss-Riordan. Minimum wage in Massachusetts is $8 per hour.

"It's a blatant violation of Massachusetts law," Schwab said, adding that she has represented dancers in about 10 similar suits.

Attorneys for the two women, who are involved with similar suits elsewhere, are now calling for more dancers to come forward as part of a class-action action suit that could go to trial in 2013. The Kings Inn suit, filed in Bristol Superior Court Sept. 7, 2010, covers dancers who performed at the club starting Sept. 7, 2007.

"The motivation to take on the case is that ... it's a population that is exploited and transient," Schwab said. "Many of them don't have the ability or motivation to pursue these cases on their own behalf."

Kings Inn president Henry Lauzon maintains the dancers were independent contractors who paid fees — $35 to $50 a shift plus cuts from their $25 lap dances and $215-plus "Champagne room" (a room set aside for private entertainment) — to use the club, a common practice in the industry, said his attorney, Patrick Matthews of the Coastal Legal Affiliates of Fall River. Lauzon intends to go to trial to defend the club, Matthews said.

"He believes that these issues have to be fully litigated and he's really wanted to push ahead," he said.

Lauzon, 63, has a home in Fall River but resides nine months of the year in Las Vegas, according to court documents. He is "out of state" and could not be reached for comment Monday, Matthews said.

To win the case, Lauzon must prove that the dancers were not working under the club's direction, that exotic dancing is not a regular part of the Kings Inn business and that the women worked as exotic dancers independent from the club.

Those legal standards were set as part of 2004 revisions to state law, Matthews said. Most previous challenges have settled before going to trial and judgment could have far-reaching implications for other industries that also rely on independent contractors, he said.

"The highest courts in Massachusetts haven't really looked at the statute as applied to this situation and (Lauzon) believes that when the court does look at it that they may have a different outcome," Matthews said. "If applied the way they're applying it, it would have a lot of different ramifications in a lot of different industries."

Judges in Bristol Superior Court have already issued preliminary judgments that favor the women's suit, ruling that the case may proceed as a class-action suit and that the women's argument that they were employees is supported by the fact that the club was in the exotic dancing business.

The Kings Inn dancers, Ramona Cruz and Nelita Monteiro, are also plaintiffs in a suit against Mario's Showcase in Worcester and Monteiro is a plaintiff in a suit against Centerfolds, also in Worcester. They have performed in clubs in numerous states, including Connecticut, according to court documents.

They could not be reached for comment Monday.

If the women win, the club, located at 635 State Road in Dartmouth, would be required to provide dancers with three times their back wages and, if more dancers come forward, it could result in "millions" awarded, if not actually recovered, Schwab said.